


I've been doing my homework

by Starliam



Category: Ocean's Eleven Trilogy (Movies)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-03
Updated: 2020-07-03
Packaged: 2021-03-04 21:16:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,931
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25043023
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Starliam/pseuds/Starliam
Summary: This one shot comes from what Linus tells Rusty on the plane to Amsterdam in Ocean's Twelve."I watched you and Danny really closely last time around" suggested me that maybe the three of them did other jobs together in between the first and the second movie.So, this story is set during one of those job after the robbing at the Bellagio. Linus does his homework... But what does it mean?
Comments: 3
Kudos: 20





	I've been doing my homework

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Taste_of_Suburbia](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Taste_of_Suburbia/gifts).



At first, Rusty was surprised. Then he was curious, then worried, and then a little upset. What was Linus doing?  
It was the second job he and Danny were doing with him after the Benedict job, and Linus was weirder than usual. He was always a little shy and awkward in a funny way, but he was a fast learner, and incredibly smart. That was why they wanted to work with him. They wanted to help him in learning more than he could do by himself, and they knew that Linus would have never accepted his parents' help. But now... he was spending a lot of time writing on a red notebook. At dinner, when they were relaxing and going over the plan, he was writing in there, sometimes with pens of different colors. The first day Danny and Rusty just frowned at each other, but didn't say anything. 

The next day, when Rusty came down for breakfast, he found again Linus in the kitchen, writing in the same notebook. But this time, when Linus saw him, immediately closed the notebook, putting it away. Rusty pretended not to see that, but it was weird.   
That night, Rusty finally asked him: "What is that? What are you writing?"  
Linus blushed, and closed the notebook. "Oh... it's nothing. Just my homework".  
Rusty looked confused. "Homework? What homework?".  
Linus smiled. "Nothing, really. Don't worry about it".  
Rusty tried to open the notebook, and Linus swatted his hand away. "Hey! Leave it, okay? It's nothing".  
"Okay, sorry", said Rusty, shrugging. "Anyway, I have the updated blueprints, and I wanted to show them to you".  
"Of course," smiled Linus again. "Let me see".

"Hey," said Rusty the next dayy, sitting next to Danny.  
"Hey. What?"  
"Did you say something to Linus? Something about homework?"  
Danny frowned. "Homework?"  
"Yes. Did you see the notebook that he carries around? I asked him what it was, and he said 'homework'."  
"Homework?"  
"Homework".  
"What homework?"  
"I don't know. I hoped you did".  
Danny shrugged. "I didn't give him any homework. Why would I?"  
"I have no idea. He's been weird. You don't think he is planning something on his own, right?"  
Danny frowned again. "Like what?"  
"I don't know. But he is always trying to... show us what he can do. I'm just scared he will do something stupid and dangerous".  
"I... I don't think so. He might be a novice, but he's not stupid".   
"Well, I know, but... you know... He's always..."  
"Yeah," nodded Danny. "I know".  
"Let's keep an eye on him, uh?"  
"Mmmm".

For the next couple of days, the job proceeded normally. Rusty and Danny didn't see Linus writing in his notebook again, and they didn't talk about it anymore. They had so many things to do that almost didn't have time to see each other anyway, except at dinner.   
The morning before the day of the job, the three of them had breakfast together very early, in order to go over the last things to do.   
"And then, after I call you, Rusty - was saying Danny - you enter from the front door, and Linus... Linus? You okay?"  
Following Danny's eyes, Rusty turned to look at Linus. He had glassy eyes and his face was pale.  
"Yes, yes... I'm fine. Sorry, I didn't sleep very well".  
Danny looked at Rusty, who frowned. "Are you sure?"  
"Yes, I'm fine, don't worry. I just got a little nervous, and I couldn't sleep".  
Before he could move, Danny put a hand on his forehead.  
"Hey!" protested Linus.  
"You're burning, Linus. You have a fever".  
"No, I don't".  
Quickly, Rusty touched his cheek.  
"Hey! Stop touching me!" protested Linus again, jerking away.   
"Yes, you do have a fever," concluded Rusty.  
There was no doubt about it: Linus' face was very hot, and his skin was clammy.  
"I'm fine! Listen, I took some Tylenol last night, and now I feel so much better".  
"Last night?" asked Danny, frowning. "You were already sick yesterday?"  
"Yes, well..."  
"That's why you didn't come for dinner," said Rusty. "You said you already ate, but you were actually sick".  
"Linus... this is incredibly dangerous," said Danny, looking severely at his friend.  
"I am fine! It's just some... flu, or whatever".   
Rusty scoffed. "I can't believe it", he said, shaking his head.  
"What?" asked Linus. "I..."  
"You always ask us to trust you," scolded him Rusty. "How can we trust you, eh? If when you're sick you don't tell us?"  
"You're being unjust," protested Linus. "I'm not that sick. I'm totally capable of..."  
"You're capable of..."  
"Okay, listen to me," interrupted Danny, looking pointedly at Rusty, surely asking him with his eyes to stay calm. "While this job is not particularly dangerous, we can't risk anything. If somebody is sick, it can become a problem, do you understand that?"  
"But..."  
"Just answer my question, please. Do you understand that?"  
"I do," said Linus, lowering his head.  
"Good. Now, you might not feel very sick, but what would happen if you... fainted while doing the job?"  
"Oh, c'mon! I'm not going to faint!"  
"No, you're not!" said loudly Rusty. "Because now you're going back to bed!"  
"What?! And what about the job?"  
"The job is postponed".  
"What? But..."  
"The job is postponed, Linus", added Danny. "And if we can't do it later, we'll just cancel".  
Linus scoffed. "You're incredible. That's why I didn't want to tell you. You just don't trust me".  
With that, he got up and went to his room, without waiting for an answer. Danny and Rusty looked at each other, in silence. 

After a couple of hours, Danny knocked at Linus' door. No answer for a moment, then he heard a muffled "Come in", so he opened the door.  
"I brought you some tea," he said, entering.  
Linus was paler than before, and was sweating. He looked at Danny that was approaching his bed. "I feel terrible," he whispered.  
Danny sighed, putting the cup of tea on the nightstand. "Yes, it's clear".  
"I can't drink anything".  
"You have to drink something. It's important to stay hydrated when we're sick".  
Linus shook his head. "I'm going to puke".  
"You know... right now, we were supposed to be inside and to do the job", pointed out Danny, looking intently at Linus, who glanced at him sheepishly.  
"I know. You were right".  
"I know I was. Do we need to call a doctor?"  
"No, no. I'll be fine soon".  
"Okay. Get some sleep. We'll bring you something to eat later".  
"No, please. I really can't eat anything".  
"Mmm. Okay. Get some rest, eh?"

Obviously, Danny didn't listen to Linus, and a doctor was called, when Linus went almost unreponsive.  
"He's going to be fine," said the doctor, after seeing Linus. "He has a bad flu. He needs a lot of rest, plenty of fluid and some Tylenol".  
"He didn't want to drink or eat anything," explained Danny.  
"It's normal, because he has probably nausea. But he has to. Try to give him juices, soups or something similar. And call me again if he doesn't get better in a couple of days".  
"Thanks, doctor".  
During the day, Danny went different times to check on Linus, and to bring him food. Linus was only able to eat a couple of bites, but Danny didn't feel like forcing him. He looked better than before, and Danny felt relieved. But Linus couldn't fail to notice how Rusty never came to visit him. He must have been angry.   
It was only way after 10 pm that Rusty decided to go check on him. He entered the room quietly, thinking that Linus was probably asleep. Instead, Linus was very much awake.  
He looked at him, but didn't speak. Rusty sat on the chair next to his bed. "You should be sleeping", he said, after a few moments.  
"I know. I can't".  
"Did you eat something?"  
"Yes".  
"Good".  
The two stayed in silence for a while. Then, Linus spoke again. "What are you doing here?"  
"I came to see if you feel better".  
"I do".  
"Good".  
Nothing again. This time, it was Rusty who spoke first. "Why you didn't tell us you were sick, Linus? You know that these things can be dangerous".  
Linus was silent for a moment. "I... It looks like I always make some mistake. I only wanted to make you two proud of me".  
Rusty looked at him for the longest second ever. "We are proud of you, Linus".  
Linus scoffed. "That's not true".  
"Do you think we would call you to work with us, if we weren't?"  
"It doesn't mean that you are proud of me. It just means that you work well with me or whatever".  
Rusty shook his head. "You still need to learn a lot. But you are very good at what you do. And you don't need to get yourself sick or to risk your life in order to please us. How do you think we would feel if something happened to you?"  
Linus seemed actually thinking about it. "I... I don't know".  
Rusty opened his eyes wide, surprised at the answer. "You don't know? We would feel terrible, Linus. Especially if we knew that you were sick and you didn't tell us because you didn't want to disappoint us. What kind of friends are we? Yes, the jobs are thrilling and everything, but nothing is more important than our lives. I would never want you or anyone else to risk their safety to steal something".  
Linus sighed. "See? That's how stupid I am".  
Rusty brought a hand to his face, looking tired. "You are not stupid, Linus".  
"Thanks. I promise I will tell you anything, from now on".  
"Good. But now you need some rest, kid".  
Linus looked irritated. "I'm not a kid!".  
Rusty smiled. "You're not. Sorry".  
"Mmmm".  
Rusty kept watching, as Linus was closing his eyes, almost immediately drifitng off to sleep. While he was getting up from the chair, Rusty noticed the red notebook on the lower shelf of the nighstand. It was under an issue of Time magazine. Rusty hesitated: he didn't want to betray his friend. But... He decided to take just a quick look. He could still put it back if it was something personal. He got back on the chair, after a last glance to Linus: he was soundly asleep. Rusty opened slowly the notebook to the first page, and started reading. 

_...Rusty says that recons need to be done at different times of the day, especially for big buildings. Different light shows different details...  
...What's a Hell in a Handbasket? Remember to ask Danny...  
...Today I learned a lot, just by watching them. But I still need to learn how to successfully study the blueprints. Sometimes I get confused......  
Never, never get distracted. They both told me. If you're tired, just get some rest and finish later...<\i> _

__

__

And so on. The pages were full of notes like those. Rusty closed the notebook, and out it back carefully. So, that was the "homework". Linus was taking notes of what he was learning from him and Danny.  
Rusty felt... he couldn't say. Full of pride, and affection for the young thief. But also sad. It was great that Linus wanted to learn, but sometimes it looked like he was thinking too low on himself. He was smart, but he didnt seem to recognize that. That was another thing that Rusty and Danny had to teach him.  
Rusty shook his head, watching a deeply asleep Linus. "Stupid kid", he whispered. But his warm smile revealed a different feeling. 


End file.
